We had friends over last night for a lasagna feed. It was a wonderful evening full of good conversation and good food. I made two batches of lasagna. Well, actually, J16 made lasagna while I did other things. I had all the children in the kitchen helping since I was so far behind schedule. J16 was the kitchen assistant/prep chef, I16 was the sous chef and K10 was the bus boy and runner.
The first was a traditional lasagna with tomato sauce and italian sausage- that was the lasagna "with". The lasagna "without" (the vegetarian option) was something new for me. I made a winter squash lasagna. One of my pumpkins was starting to get soft and needed used so I researched recipes online and then made my own creation...
Mmmm, tasty!
I started by peeling and cubing about 2.5 lbs of squash. This I tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, chopped onions and garlic then roasted it at 400* until tender and beginning to get a bit of caramelization. Once out of the oven, I added finely chopped fresh sage leaves (5 leaves) and a bit of dried rosemary. I used a pretty traditional cheese filling with ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan but substituted some shredded provolone for some of the mozzarella. The sauce over all was a garlic white sauce. That's where I13 came in as sous chef since I didn't have time to stand there and stir the sauce with a whisk for 15 minutes. The layering was noodles, cheese, squash mixture, a bit of sauce, repeat, ending with noodles and sauce over all. I didn't let it brown as much as I would have liked on top but the cheese was beginning to bubble over the edge of the pan onto the bottom of the oven- ick.
For sides, we had breadsticks and salad. Thanks to Jena at Married to the Farm for the recipe for The Best homemade breadsticks EVER! They were definitely a hit. I made a tossed salad and yes, even after all the frost and cold weather, I was still able to pick some leaf lettuce out of the yard to dress up our purchased lettuce.
All in all, it was a great night. We'll have to do it again soon.
mmmmm that looks good! My hubby makes an incredible white lasagna with homemade alfredo, sausage and tons of garlic... I know how to do it, but don't... it will taste all the better when he gets home and serves ME LOL!
ReplyDeleteI love Lasagna! Doesn't matter to me what's in it! I love all of it! I love Pasta dishes! Yours looks good! How nice to have all your kiddos chipping in to cook!! You are one lucky momma!!...debbie
ReplyDeleteYum!
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